Archive for August, 2009

>At its regular meeting today, the Darke County Commission Board approved the expenditure of $2,300 for environmental assessments to be completed on five county-owned buildings west of the courthouse. $500 of the funds will be for asbestos abatement specifications, while $1,800 will be for a Phase I environmental site assessment. Environmental Assessment Services, Inc. will do the work.

The five buildings in question include the Albrecht building (West Fourth), the former Visitation House (Sycamore Street), the former DARE House (Sycamore Street), and some utility buildings. Business & Safety Coordinator John Cook said the assesments were being done in contemplation of razing the buildings. The buildings would not all be demolished at once, but the cost of the assessments would be the same for one building or five, so it was prudent to do all the assessments now.

No timetable was discussed regarding the demolition of the buildings.

Clarification: there was no discussion of a new courts building at the commission meeting. At this point, the demolition of the buildings may or may not be related to the courts building project.

>Whatever happened to 3 yards and a cloud of dust? The Versailles Tigers opened the 2009 football season with a no-huddle spread offense that had Oakwood tied in knots all night. Versailles didn’t hand off to a running back the entire game – and instead continued the passing game even through driving rain storms. The Versailles Tigers are for real this year. Next up for Versailles … away at Graham. Next up for Darke Journal: ??? [Bonus: tigerballonline.net has a bunch of pictures of the game here.]

>GREENVILLE – The Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund, an account within the HOPE Foundation, is pleased to announce a new opportunity within Darke County for organ and tissue donor registry. In conjunction with Life Connection of Ohio and Edison Community College, students and the public may sign-up anytime day or evening to register to be an organ donor by stopping in at the Darke County branch of Edison Community College.

The Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund was started in 1999 by his parents, Phil and Karen Garbig, in honor of their son who received a liver/small bowel transplant as a fifth grader at Arcanum Schools. Although he lost his battle seven months later, his experience gave much needed knowledge to the medical professionals for future transplant recipients. The Garbig family believes we can make the best of an unfortunate situation by donating our organs and tissue and blessing someone else with health, hope and the promise of life. Gifts made to the account by friends and families on his behalf are designated to be used to further the quest of the family to increase organ and tissue donation awareness. The fund has paid for many billboards and other outreach methods throughout the years and they wanted to do something different this year. Thanks to the wonderful cooperation of Janice Michael from Edison Community College they were able to do so.

Anyone interested in learning more about organ donation or who want to signup can do so at the local school branch. They will be directed to the special computer on-site that is designated for this great cause through the website of Life Connection of Ohio. Life Connection is an independent, non-profit organ procurement organization and serves as the designated agency for northwest and west central Ohio. LCO provides services to 52 hospitals and donation education to the 2.2 million residents within a 23 county service area. It is important for people to realize that in the United States, over 95,000 people are on the national organ waiting list and over 2,500 of those are Ohioans. Sadly, eighteen people die each day due to a lack of available organs. For more information about Life Connection of Ohio, visit www.lifeconnectionofohio.org.

If you would like to make a donation to the Zachary Garbig Memorial Fund to further additional activities promoting organ donation awareness, feel free to send your check payable to HOPE/Garbig Fund, c/o HOPE Foundation, P.O. Box 438, Greenville, OH 45331 or contact Patty Lavy at 548-HOPE.

>Our game of the week: Versailles 33, Oakwood 14 … Versailles showcased the no-huddle spread offense and built a quick 21-0 lead they never gave up. This game was soggy, but that didn’t stop Versailles passing game. Video & a photo link above.

Vandalia 14, Greenville 3 … Reader comment: Neither team could hold on to the wet ball in a 14-3 win for Vandalia / over Greenville. (WKEF22 raw)

The Darke County Republican Women’s Club is pleased to announce that David Yost will be the speaker at the Monday, September 14 meeting. Mr. Yost is a candidate for Ohio Attorney General in the 2010 Elections.

The meeting will be held at the Brethren Home Community Center. The public is invited and will be very welcome to attend Mr. Yost’s speech, which should begin at 7:00 p.m. Reservations for the speech alone are not necessary. However, those also attending the dinner at 6:30 p.m. will require reservations. Please call Wavelene Denniston at 547-6477 by September 10.

Dave Yost is the prosecuting attorney for Delaware County, Ohio, bordering Columbus to the north. Dave has gained a reputation for aggressively representing the people in criminal court or in civil matters. With the support of his family and the backing of numerous Republican Party leaders, Dave Yost is now a candidate in the race for Ohio Attorney General in 2010.

Dave is running for Attorney General because he believes it is time to return a real prosecutor with a proven track record in the courtroom to Ohio’s top law enforcement office. He is also convinced that his conservative beliefs and tough-on-crime approach best suit the needs of our state at this critical juncture.

Dave Yost has over two decades of public service. Since 2003 he has served the people of Delaware County as their Prosecuting Attorney. Prior to that, he served Ohio’s fastest growing county as County Auditor, the county’s Chief Fiscal Officer. Yost has also been a statewide leader in protecting our children against convicted sex-offenders, filing the first eviction action against a convicted sex offender living within 1,000 feet of a school. He defended portions of Megan’s Law against claims of unconstitutionality in both federal and state courts. He has also testified before the Ohio General Assembly on criminal justice issues and tax policy.

Yost has a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and a law degree from Capital University Law School. He has also been an adjunct faculty member at Columbus State Community College. He is a musician and composer. He and his wife Darlene live in Delaware.

Fred Strahorn was appointed Senator of Ohio’s 5th Senate District in March of this year. The district includes central Montgomery County, all of Miami County, and several rural townships in southeast Darke County – incuding the Village of Arcanum. Darke County represents a miniscule percentage of the overall population of the 5th Senate District, and consequently prior Senators have rarely visited.

So far, Fred Strahorn has bucked that trend. He attended a Garst Museum fundraiser a few months back. He joined a meeting of legislators and The Anderson’s during the height of the co2 controversy. And Strahorn was spotted again the other day at the Darke County Fair (and may well have come here on other occasions).

Giving credit where it is due, Strahorn has made a real effort to visit this part of his district.